1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mode changing apparatus for a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a tape recorder) and, more particularly, to a feather-touch mode changing apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of feather-touch mode changing apparatus for tape recorders are known in the prior art. One that is particularly suitable for battery-powered tape recorders, because it requires very little power, comprises a mode changing mechanism that uses a changing gear having a toothed periphery with a toothless portion and having a cam and a magnet secured to the changing gear. An electromagnet, comprising a solenoid coil wound on a yoke having legs opposing the poles of the gear-mounted magnet, provides an initial, or triggering, rotation of the changing gear through a small angle when the coil is energized. At that stage, the toothed portion of the changing gear meshes with a drive gear. An actuating lever is moved by the cam from an inactive position to an active position as the drive gear rotates the changing gear. The actuating lever shifts an operating member, such as a plate carrying a recording head, into an operative position. The only power required for the mode change in that type of apparatus is the power needed to run the motor to turn the drive gear and that needed to momentarily energize the solenoid to trigger the changing gear.
Conventionally, several of those mode changers are required to provide the desired number of modes for the tape recorder. Furthermore, conventional arrangements use a mechanical locking mechanism to hold the operating member in its operative position after the actuating lever has moved it there. (See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,263 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,764.) To then move the operating member to its inoperative position requires an unlocking mechanism. The number of mode changers, with their associated changing gears and electromagnets, and the locking and unlocking mechanisms, make the tape recorders bulky, complex and expensive to manufacture.